First Time's a Charm
by ivebeentwaumatized
Summary: Half-way through the summer, Wendy finds out what the fuss over Bill Cipher is about. As Bill starts to watch over Wendy, she and Dipper investigate a new mystery that's come up. Uncovering it could possibly lead them to finally finding the author once and for all, if nothing gets in the way. *Takes place a couple weeks after the events of Sock Opera.
1. Chapter 1

Wendy's dreams had started to become nightmares.

She kept seeing flashes of disturbing events that made her more stressed than usual—mainly about the twins.

Wendy didn't want the summer to end, and that's basically what it was about; late and somewhat-warm July was slowly being consumed into cool August days. Not that she would normally mind, because, hey, it sucks when it's hot out. She liked the cold. But the twins. Her summer.

The night she realized the circumstances was the worst of all. She was in a large room quite like her own house. The fireplace burned and crackled in the silence, illuminating Wendy's freckled face. It was just enough light for her to see, but all she could see was the fireplace. It was empty. Just a big room of empty, until she glanced on the ground. An ax lay there. It was hers; she picked it up. Even though it was a dream, the ax felt real in her hands, like she was actually getting ready to chop some lumber.

"Hello?" Wendy called out, her voice bouncing off the log walls.

She thought she was alone, until she sensed movement behind her. A shiver went down her spine, and she turned to see what could be there.

"Why hello, Red!"

Of course. A floating triangle.

"Don't call me that." Wendy shook her head. "You're... Bill?"

"Right you are!" He zoomed closer to her face, squinting his singular eye. "So nice to finally meet you one-on-one. I've heard a l-o-o-o-t about you from Pine Tree, and his thoughts. I can see why he likes you. You have a good vessel."

"That is totally not creepy at all." Wendy's eyes were wide, her teeth clenched.

Bill threw his arms out to his sides. "Exactly! So anyways, you're probably wondering why I'm talking to you. I mean, I have better things to do."

"Yeah, so do I," Wendy told him. "It's called sleep."

"Beings like myself don't do that. Sucks for you humans, soul always stuck inside your form... But oh! Yeah, right! I wanted to talk to you about that journal Dipper has—"

"Oh, no way," Wendy told him immediately. "Is that _really_ why you're here?"

"We could be a great team! You know Pine Tree would listen to you. And you're pretty sneaky. I've been watching over you lately. I dunno how Stanford doesn't know that the roof is where you disappear to all the time!"

"Well, I'm not helping you. Not ever." Wendy looked past Bill and into the fire crackling behind him. Why would he ask her, of all people, to betray her best friends?

Bill made a gesture that would probably be shaking his head—if he had a head. "Oh, Wendy. Wendy, Wendy, Wendy." He placed a hand around her shoulder, pulling himself against her. Wendy's chest tightened from discomfort just as he said, "You have no idea what's gonna happen to the poor Pines family, do you?"

He released her and floated high into the air. "I guess you don't have to agree with my plans. But remember..." Bill's form became large and red, a bulbous eye dominating his facial plane (Wendy figured that was the only word to be used to describe what would be a face, if Bill wasn't a triangle) while he said the last words. "_You'll help me out one way or another. You need it._"

Then Bill disappeared, the fire died, and Wendy became very disoriented. She dropped the ax. This happened all at once. When Wendy shut her eyes to blink, she opened them and found she was in bed at home. Light was streaming through the crack between the two curtains of her window. It was the morning. She had work.

Her heart was racing.


	2. Chapter 2

Wendy didn't act normal at work. Instead of slacking off like usual, she actually wanted to do something—only to get her mind off her dream.

The thing was, she couldn't even tell if it was a dream. It felt so real, yet she never left her bed; this is what she thought about as she swept the floor of the gift shop.

She hummed some of her favorite indie songs to herself to try and get something else stuck in her head besides the image of Bill. It was hard. She could hear his demonic laugh echoing through her brain; he was just taunting her, and she knew it. She knew he was trying to find a place to put her in his game.

Coming to that realization didn't lessen her stress.

A few times before the end of the day, Soos, Mabel, and Dipper came into the room. Soos would always say hello and ask if she needed help, to which she said no, and that she was okay. It wasn't until near the end of the day that Mabel came to get something for Stan when she noticed.

"Wendy?" Mabel asked. Wendy glanced up from her magazine, which she had finally retreated to.

"Mhmm?"

"Is everything okay?" She snatched a pen off the counter. "Oh, also, how much did Stan say we're marking up those fragile items? He wants me to remind him so he can raise the price tomorrow morning."

"Oh, yeah, uh... It was like, forty-five percent." She yawned, trying to put on a smile."And I'm just tired."

Mabel didn't look like she believed her, but she said, "Thanks, Wendy. And have fun!" Then she ran back upstairs.

Wendy rolled her eyes and went back to her magazine, only to hear the cuckoo clock go off minutes later. It was time to leave. So she gathered her things, and was putting on her jacket when someone came running down the stairs.

Wendy turned towards the employees only door to see Dipper say, "Hey," and he was now standing beside her.

She slipped her left arm through her jacket. "Hey, dude. You been reading all day?"

"Not _all_ day," he said. "But, uh, I came down here because Mabel said you seemed sad."

Wendy smiled slightly, patting Dipper on the shoulder. "It's nothing to worry about, dude."

"But something's wrong?"

"...Uh... Yeah..." She frowned then, realizing he had probably encountered this problem. She tightened her hand on his shoulder. "Hey, look, I'm supposed to go home soon, but I can probably call my dad and ask to stay over longer so we can talk."

Dipper raised an eyebrow. "Is it... is it that big of a problem?"

"Probably."

"Oh." Wendy could see the worry in her friend's eyes. She pulled her phone out of her pocket and dialed her home number, motioning for Dipper to be quiet.

"Dad?"

"Wendy! Did something happen?" She could hear her dad shoving her younger brothers away from his legs, like he always did when he was on the phone.

"I just need to stay late at the Shack tonight. Uh, Stan needs some help fixing something. It's not enough for both Dipper and Mabel to finish by tomorrow." Wendy hated to lie to her dad, but he wouldn't let her stay if he knew she just wanted to talk about her problems.

"Well you need to—Hey! You two! Off!—be home. You said you would make dinner tonight. Wendy, you can't change your plans like this."

"I'm sorry. Look, Dad, I need to be here, and I'll probably end up falling asleep here anyways, so I'll just see you sometime tomorrow."

"You need to come home, now!"

"Dad, please. I'll make up for it. _Please_. Just this once."

There was a long pause before he grumbled, "You're going to have a lot to do around the house."

Wendy sighed. "Yeah... I know..."

"Then get to work now or don't bother being there to help," her dad told her.

"Bye, Dad." Wendy shut her phone, exhaling deeply.

"So... are you staying?" Dipper questioned her. When she nodded, he added, "To the roof?"

"Yeah," Wendy told him. "The sodas are on me this time."


	3. Chapter 3

When Wendy stepped onto the part of the roof where she often dodged work to be, it was briskly chilly outside. Little puffs of breeze went by, blowing her hair into her face. The sun was setting in the west, which was facing Wendy's backside, but the sky was still a stunning orange-pinkish color, fading into the blue of the night. She could see part of the moon and some of the stars through the pine trees surrounding them in the forest.

She sat down beside Dipper, handing him a can of Pitt cola. "Thanks," he said.

Wendy nodded, popping the tab on the can. She took a sip before speaking. "So I had a dream last night, and frankly, I'm not even sure if it was a dream."

Dipper opened his soda. "What about?" He took a sip.

Wendy hoped it wouldn't set him off by saying, "Bill," but Dipper practically choked on the pit of the cola.

"You mean Bill Cipher?" he asked.

"Do you know another triangle named Bill?" Wendy said rhetorically, rolling her eyes. "Yes, it was Bill Cipher."

"What'd he want? He didn't like, try to hurt you, righ—" Dipper apparently had a lot of questions, which Wendy cut off.

"Dude, dude. I'm fine. Seriously. He just wanted the journal, but... it was pretty creepy. I can't get the imagine of that stupid eye put of my head." She ran a hand through her hair. "I mean, I just don't get it."

Dipper said, "Get what?"

"I don't get why Bill would go after me for something of all people. Why not Mabel or something?"

"Well, I mean, if there's anyone Bill would want to mess with, I'm at the top of the list." Wendy could tell Dipper was trying not to have his face turn a rosy shade. "I bet he knows how I... uh, felt and now feel about you."

Wendy put a hand on his shoulder to reassure him. Even though they'd covered it already, there were times when Dipper seemed unsure of how Wendy would react when he mentioned things like that. "Well, he did mention that to me, how he's read your thoughts."

"Oh my gosh," Dipper whispered, his blush deepening.

Wendy changed the subject. "Dip, why exactly does he want the journal from you?"

Dipper sighed, shaking his head. "I don't even know what I'm doing wrong, but apparently, I shouldn't know about the journals. Bill wants to destroy them. He already did that to the laptop Soos found in the author's bunker, and he literally said he wanted to get rid of the journal."

To Wendy, it made sense. Dipper had gotten so involved in the mysteries of the town, pulling a bunch of all-nighters and re-reading through the journal hundreds of times. Whether he wanted to be or not, he was a part of this now—while it meant everyone who knew Dipper was part of it too, he was the center.

"Dip, I think he just doesn't want you to become more powerful than him. He obviously knows what kind of problems people owning the journals can cause."

"Probably... ugh, of course it's all my fault. I was the one who went exploring in the first place." Dipper took another sip of his drink and then put his head in his hands. "Man, we went really off-topic."

"I know, dude." Wendy sipped her soda, then laughed. "So, you gonna comfort me or what?"

Dipper smiled and laughed a little too. He put an arm around her. "You've got nothing to worry about. Bill's gone after me multiple times, and I'm still here, perfectly fine."

"You could use a bit more sleep," Wendy suggested quietly.

"That's not the point!" Dipper told her. "Look, you're way better off in a fight against him than I am, and I've won. I mean, you can be pretty intimidating with an ax in hand. Honestly, there's really nothing to worry about. Like, it's you we're talking about. Bill can't get everything he wants all the time. Trust me, Wen... Oh..."

Wendy saw that Dipper's vision was fixated on a certain point in the air in front of them. She followed his eyes to see a familiar face—or shape, rather, which then spoke.

"Well, well, good to see you both again!"


	4. Chapter 4

"Seriously? Bill, what do you want?" Dipper tensed; Wendy could feel it from the arm that was still around her.

Bill floated down out of the air to sit on the roof next to Wendy. "Oh, you both know what I want. I'm just here to up the ante."

"Great," Wendy said apathetically.

"It is great! So I can see you're telling Pine Tree about our little talk."

Dipper and Wendy exchanged glances. "Yeah," Dipper said. "And what the heck is up with you? Can't you just fight me yourself?"

Bill shrugged. "Ah, well, you know, I could do that. But it's a lot more fun this way. Don't you think?" Bill put one of his arms around Wendy, making her feel uncomfortable.

"Sure," Wendy said. "It's about as fun as hanging out with a murderer."

"Yeah... You know, it kind of is the same thing." Bill blinked his eye.

Dipper pulled Wendy closer to him. "Okay, so what's the point in this? Are you here to tell us you're gonna ruin our lives over a game of go fish?"

"Sure!" Bill held out his hand like he was holding a set of cards, but said, "You got any trout?"

"What?"

"Go fish!" A trout fell from the sky and landed behind everyone. Dipper and Wendy turned to stare at the triangle. "...You guys want me to leave, right?"

"Yes!" they both said.

"All right, all right. Just stopped by to check up on you two, make sure you're not forming a conspiracy, y'know, that kind of thing. Oh, and good luck against me! You need it."

That's when Bill did the creepy thing again, where he narrowed his eyes, staring, and time seemed like it stopped. Before she knew it, Wendy was asleep, and there was nothing she could do.

―――

"Wendy, wake up."

They were still on the roof when Wendy's eyes fluttered open. It was the next morning, just a hint of sunrise left in the sky, and they were laying down. She had her head on Dipper's shoulder. She was tired.

Wendy looked over at Dipper and said, "Hey."

"Hey. Did Bill come to talk to us last night...?"

"Yep."

"Oh-h-h great. So the dream was real."

Wendy nodded. "Bill needs to calm down. It's not like we're destroying the planet or anything." She glanced back at the sea creature laying on the roof. Her red hair was strewn all around her. "He tells us we need to stop, and then ends up throwing a _fish_ at our heads. Does that not say something?"

"Yeah... You're right."

Bill was definitely a hypocrite. Wendy guessed he didn't care, though, as long as he ended up with the journal. She sat up, staring out across the horizon line. It was slightly chilly; Wendy rubbed her hands on the bare part of her arms.

"Do you think that all Bill wants is the journals?" Dipper asked, now sitting beside Wendy. "I think there has to be something more. It's just that there's still pages I haven't uncovered, which is probably what Bill is after."

"Like what?" Wendy said. Dipper pulled the journal from his vest and laid it out in front of them, flipping to a page near the back. To Wendy, it looked like part of a circle with a bunch of symbols surrounding it. "Any ideas on what it is?"

"No..." Dipper laughed quietly. "Well, I had an ides once, but Mabel said I was just imagining things."

"What was it?"

"It's dumb," Dipper shrugged.

"Dude, just tell me!" Wendy shoved her arm into his side.

"Well," Dipper told her, "I thought it could be a portal to another dimension. Something that the author or someone working with the author could have built...? I dunno. It's kind of far-fetched—"

"Dip, no, no, it isn't..." Wendy bit her lip in thinking. Her eyes widened. "Dude. Dude, you're right."

"Wait, what?"

"Dipper, first off, McGucket worked on building a machine that he thought could save everyone. Remember, in the video of his memories? He quit though, which means it was never finished. But you have the third journal, which means there were ones written before it—a first and second. If the page," she pressed her finger against the image, "in your journal is incomplete...?"

Dipper nodded. "We have to find the other journals."


	5. Chapter 5

"I really don't want to do this."

"Well, Dipper, you came up with the idea in the first place, so stop complaining. Now let's go."

"Okay, okay."

Dipper and Wendy began to walk away from the porch of the Mystery Shack. They each had a backpack on, filled with flashlights, some snacks, some rope—anything they might need to obtain the other two journals. Wendy had her ax with her, which was crucial, especially to where they were going next.

The two crossed a path through forest into enemy territory: Lil Gideon's Tent O' Telepathy.

"Man," Dipper said, "I haven't been here since like, the first week of vacation."

Wendy looked up at the sign titling the building, which had been spray painted with black all over it. Upon further inspection, many things had been spray painted over, and boarded up. "And that was when it was actually open, and Gideon wasn't a criminal." After people in the town found out Gideon was a liar, after he was arrested, they basically destroyed his property. There wasn't even a point in owning it anymore, with his powers being outed. Dipper had thought it was best to start where Gideon spent a lot of his time using the journal, which was where he hypnotized all his fans into thinking it was all real.

Two rows of benches, like in a church lined the back of the room; at the front was the stage, and the sky blue curtains were sitting wide open.

"I don't think anyone has been here in weeks," Dipper said. His voice echoed, just enough that Wendy took notice.

"Yeah. It's kind of creepy in here..." Even though there was enough light to see, inside he pulled a flashlight from her backpack and turned it on. "Come on, let's check backstage."

Since she had the light source, Wendy went first through the door. She opened it quietly, shining brightness behind the stage. Suddenly, a bat flew out from the door, making both Dipper and Wendy jump. Wendy dropped her flashlight, making it go out. After a few second, she grabbed it and hit it against the wall to get it back on, and proceeded into the next room.

There were a lot of stage props caked in dust, sitting in stacked boxes. Papers littered the floor, as well as spiderwebs. Wendy held the light against the left wall first, working her way down, and then up the right. Some more spider webs were scattered around a door that had a gold star smack in the middle. "Do you think that's Gideon's dressing room?" Dipper quizzed her. He touched it with his hand. "Oh my God, I think this is _actual_ gold."

"What else can you do with all that money?" Wendy said. "Here, you check in here, and I'll go in the other room. Be back in a second." She touched her friend's shoulder before opening the door slowly, and stepping inside.

She felt against the wall for a light switch, and flipped it to get nothing. Wendy figured it was probably because Gideon's parents stopped paying the electricity bills at the end of June, right when Gideon was sent to jail.

Looking around, there wasn't much. Just a lot of expensive items sat around. A vanity was against the wall opposite to the door. The closet was left open, and Wendy saw a ton of Gideon's trademark sky blue suits with capes tied to the hangers. A white couch and matching armchair, along with a large rug were on the last side of the room. The pillows were ripped open and littered on the floor in a rage, which was normal for Gideon.

Wendy approached the vanity, and began opening the drawers. The first two were filled with all kinds of products; Wendy wasn't surprised to find a small, half-used tub of her brand of moisturizer along with everything.

In the last drawer was a stack of letters. Wendy took them all out and began scanning over them, starting from the top. Towards the bottom, they became more aggressive.

Most of the letters began with "My Dearest Mabel." A few were to Dipper, Stan, and the whole Pines family (Soos included). Wendy came across one addressed to her half-way through the pile.

"Wendy Corduroy, I guess I should begin with this,

Since you're a friend of the Pines', I don't really like you. We haven't talked much, but oh boy, Bill Cipher has told me so much about you. Did you know he's been watching over you? You'll see soon enough. Anyways, good luck with aiding Dipper in finding the author. I wouldn't normally wish anyone that, but since you're going to die anyways, why not? It's the least lil ol' me can do.

-Gideon

P.S. Your moisturizer is the best brand I've used in a long time."

Wendy set the note down on top of the pile and thought for a second. So Gideon knew Bill had been watching her? What a creep. Then she thought, Does that mean Bill is watching me right now? She looked up from the pile into the mirror, which had been clear before, but now, the shape of an eye appeared to be glowing in the reflection. Wendy's eyes widened.

She burst through the door, carrying all the papers she had gathered. "Dipper grab everything you need! We're leaving now!"

"What happened?" he asked while gathering things, then stood up.

"Later," Wendy said. "Just go!"

Together, they ran out of the Tent O' Telepathy, and back to the Mystery Shack. When they ended back at the porch, they both plopped down and gasped for breath.

Dipper set down everything in front of him. He looked over at what Wendy had, and said between breaths, "Is... is that it?" He got a nod in response. "So why did we leave?"

"Read the... whole thing. The letter on top." Wendy got up and fished through her pockets for change in order to buy her and Dipper both Pitt Colas. She handed him one just as he finished the letter; they traded items.

"So Gideon knows about Bill spying on you?" Dipper cracked open his soda and took a few sips as Wendy spoke.

"Yeah. But that's not the creepy part." She opened her can as well, and then lowered her voice. "When I was in the room... Bill was watching me. Dipper, he knows exactly what we're going to do, even before we do."


	6. Chapter 6

After Wendy explained about the letters she found, it was Dipper's turn to share.

"I didn't find anything super important. But I found a few papers that have some keys to different codes on them." Dipper passed one of them to Wendy, which was labeled, "Key Vigenère Cipher."

"Did they use these codes in the journal you have?"

"Yeah, I've seen the names floating around a few times. Atbash Cipher, Vigenère Cipher, Three Letters Back Cipher—they'll uncover more things from pages I've already read thousands of times." Dipper smiled.

Wendy smiled back. She was glad to see him this happy, especially now that things were getting more dangerous. "This is awesome!" She handed Dipper the paper back, and put her arm around his shoulder. "Dude, we're getting closer to figuring this out, I can feel it."

"I know, I'm so excited," Dipper told her. His eyes were lit up with the anticipation of finding the author. "So, where are we going next? I didn't really think we'd get much from that trip."

"I was thinking we could see if Gideon still has the journal." Wendy shrugged. "I mean, he had to have his possessions taken from him since he was in prison, but his parents could have kept it for him."

"You're suggesting we take a trip to prison?" Dipper asked.

"You have any better ideas?"

Dipper did not have any better ideas. He and Wendy ended up taking a trip to prison, where they waited until Gideon could be escorted to one of those boxes where you talk through a phone.

"This place seems right at home for Gideon, don't you think?" Dipper asked.

"Mhmm," Wendy said. "I bet the little runt dreamed of it." Prison was not at all delightful. Everything was grey brick and bars. Everything.

From behind one of the room windows, Sheriff Blubs and Deputy Durland escorted Lil Gideon into the room. They locked him inside, nodding towards Dipper and Wendy before exiting.

Dipper and Wendy approached the window, sharing the chair that sat in front of the phone. Dipper picked up the phone after seeing Gideon do so, and held it between his and Wendy's ears.

"Well, well, hello you two. Nice to talk again after all this time, huh?" Gideon smiled. "I haven't spoken to people outside the prison walls in a long time!"

"I wonder why..." Dipper mumbled.

Wendy shoved him and gave him a quick glare. Being rude wasn't going to get them anywhere. "Gideon, we wanted to talk to you about something."

Gideon said, "Go for it," with a hand gesture.

"Well," Wendy announced, "we wanted to know if you still had the second journal. We need it for—"

"Wait, wait, wait a second!" Gideon held up his hands like he was surrendering. "You came here to ask me about the journal? Don't you guys have it?" When Dipper and Wendy shook their heads, Gideon slammed a fist on the wall beside him. "I thought you all took it from me! I asked my Daddy if he had Journal 2 when he came to visit by my demand, when I was first locked up, but he said it was gone! Who else would have take it?"

"We have no idea," Dipper told him. "None of us took your Journal! Why would we ask for something we already have?"

"I don't know, Dipper." Gideon squinted his eyes. "I can't do anything about it, and frankly, I wouldn't anyways! Why on earth would I help my mortal enemies?"

"Wait, I thought Stan was your mortal enemy. Don't you just hate us because we know him?" Wendy asked.

"Well, yes," Gideon nodded. "But also because my Peach Dumpling refused to be my girlfriend." He looked at Dipper while saying, "I'll get her back, boy."

"Oh, sure," Dipper told him. "You do that."

"I will, thank you very much." Gideon patted his hair. "You know, maybe I could just steal your Peach Dumpling. She's pretty." Gideon raised his eyebrows at Wendy, who rolled her eyes.

"Anything else, Gideon?" Dipper asked, annoyed. "I really am not enjoying this conversation."

"Actually, yeah," Wendy interrupted. "Gideon, when was the last time you spoke with Bill Cipher?"

"Last night, I think. Bill comes and visits all the time," Gideon said. "Are you asking because he's been watching over you?"

"The reason isn't important. It was the answer I was looking for. Bye, Gideon." Wendy hung up the phone before anyone could say anything else. She took the phone from Dipper's hand and placed it back where it belonged, then stood up. "We should go."

"Wendy, we could still ask him more stuff," Dipper suggested. "Like about the ciphers."

Wendy shook her head. "He'll just get mad at us. We're going back to the Shack." She grabbed Dipper's hand before he could protest, pulling him away from Gideon with her. "You know that Gideon just helped us solve it the problem, inadvertently."

"What?" Dipper tried to stop her, but Wendy pushed her way through the doors, dragging Dipper with her towards the Mystery Shack.

"Yeah, Dip. Gideon just told us where Journal 2 is. Stan has it."


	7. Chapter 7

Wendy and Dipper had to wait a couple of days before returning to the quest at hand. Wendy had to go back home and do things around the house, since she wasn't there the night she and Dipper began investigating. Luckily, it gave Dipper more time to solve some codes from what he obtained at the Tent O' Telepathy.

The two were in the twins' room, sitting on Dipper's bed. It was covered in books and papers, including the ciphers they found, the letters, and Journal 3.

"So, what'd you figure out?" Wendy asked.

Dipper laid Journal 3 out on both their laps, flipping through the pages. "I really didn't get much." He shrugged. "A lot of things saying to 'Trust no one!' and 'The eye sees all.' The one thing that stood out was, 'The end of the world is closer than the end of summer.' Wasn't that helpful, although, it did mention how creepy Bill was."

"That is pretty accurate. But, hey, speaking of Bill, he visited me in my dreams last night again..."

She went on to tell Dipper how it happened.

The previous night, Wendy had been exhausted. She had been working vigorously around her house to keep things in order, as well as work, and it was awful. She was super stressed, and ended up falling asleep early, hoping to escape it. Bill did not help with that—he merely made it worse.

Wendy appeared in the log cabin again, fireplace burning and crackling. Again, her ax laid on the floor. She bent down and gripped it tightly. "Hello?"

Then she waited for Bill to appear, and when he emerged from thin air, Wendy was not happy. "Bill, what is wrong with you?! You're messing up my life!"

"Hey, hey, easy there, Red. I did tell you before that things would get better for you if you just handed over the journal."

"And I already said no. Why do you want it so badly anyways?" Wendy said.

Bill made a shrugging motion, floating down closer to Wendy. "Well, that is classified... but you can find out if you give it."

"No."

"Gee, you're stubborn, Corduroy. Just like your father."

"Ugh," Wendy rolled her eyes. "Don't talk about him right now. He's been really hard on me, and if you're gonna make my life miserable, don't involve my family!"

Bill paused for a minute or so before speaking again. "Uh, yeah. Telling a demon how to make you mad isn't really the best idea."

"Well, I don't care!" Wendy retorted. She pressed a hand against her head in aggravation. "I can do whatever I want, okay! You don't control me."

Bill turned a shade of bright red in anger, and grew in size. His voice turned all creepy again, and he was staring Wendy down.

"YOU THINK THIS IS A GAME?!"

"No, you're just being annoying!"

"So are you!" Bill growled. "And you need to listen to me—"

"Then stop making my and Dipper's lives awful!" Wendy's grip on the ax increased; her knuckles were white. All she wanted at that moment was for everyone to live a life free of fear of this triangle freak.

"You listen up right now, Corduroy," Bill zoomed right up to her face, making Wendy stumble. "I am going to get that journal whether you like it or not. I can get it with or without your help. You may be resistant now, but I know exactly what it takes to get you to break. Know that."

"...And that's all he said. I threw the ax at him after he spoke that and then I was awake. Short and not sweet," Wendy finished.

"Thanks for telling him to lay off me, too," Dipper said with a small smile.

"Hey, you deserve to be left alone," Wendy replied. "So—"

Mabel walked through the open door at that moment, Waddles behind her. "Hey, guys!"

"Hey, Mabel," Dipper said.

"You going to Candy or Grenda's?" Wendy asked.

"Yeah, Candy's," Mabel said with a smile. "I thought since you guys are investigating that I should go do something myself. Tell me what happens when I get back tomorrow!" Mabel grabbed a duffel bag full of clothes, movies, books, and games, and headed back out the door.

Dipper and Wendy said goodbye back, then went back to conversing between themselves.

"So, what're we gonna do tonight?" Wendy asked. "Watch really bad movies?"

"Yep. If anything unusual comes up, we can just go check."

"Sounds like a plan," Wendy said.

Dipper looked out the triangular window. The sun was setting; it was probably about 8 P.M. "We should probably start getting the snacks ready," he suggested.

"Then let's do it."

Wendy followed Dipper out of the room, mentally readying herself for if anything were to happen. At the moment, everything seemed too normal, and if Wendy knew Gravity Falls, that was bound to change.

―――


	8. Chapter 8

Dipper and Wendy chatted quietly as movies played on the TV—they had no reason not to, since they had to be alert at all times. Also, the movies were awful.

"What do you think Stan's up to?" Wendy asked towards the middle of the second movie. Like, he always seems like he's hiding something, but... in all the years I've been here, I've never seen him get involved."

"Except when he fought those zombies and admitted he'd been lying to me and Mabel, yeah," Dipper added. He shook his head, grabbing some popcorn out of the bowl to the right of him. "If we're right about him and the portal, I won't know what to think... I mean, lying to us all this time. And he promised that he didn't have anything else he was hiding."

"Says the person who promised Stan he wasn't going to investigate the paranormal anymore," Wendy told him.

"Look," Dipper said, "I only told him that so he'd get off my back. I can't believe he actually believed me. Like, don't you ever have to tell your dad stuff just so he'll lay off?"

Wendy stared at the TV. "Uh... actually, yeah." She took a breath in and pushed her long hair out of her face. "Sometimes it feels like all he does is complain, and my siblings always leave me to do everything that's difficult. They're always just chopping down trees while I'm inside cleaning up some mess my dad made, and then my dad calls me out to help them, too. It's..." She glanced over at Dipper, who, from the light of the television on his face, looked like he felt sympathetic for her. Wendy's chest tightened. "It doesn't really matter. Pass me the popcorn."

Dipper passed Wendy the bowl. "Wendy, it does matter."

"I-I don't wanna talk about it. Sorry, just..."

"Hey, hey... it's cool." Dipper hesitated for a few seconds before placing his hand on Wendy's shoulder. "I just want you to be okay."

Wendy nodded a few times. "Yeah, thanks, man. Really. I just don't want to talk about it... right now..." She paused for a few seconds before asking, "Did you hear that?"

"What?" Dipper turned towards the door to the gift shop.

"If you didn't hear it, then never mind," Wendy said. "Let's just enjoy watch this sucky movie."

Dipper laughed. "Let's."

A few minutes later, the Mystery Shack began to rumble loudly. Blue light erupted from the gift shop.

"DIPPER," Wendy yelled. "WHAT IS THAT?"

"I DON'T KNOW. LET'S GO SEE." Dipper grabbed Wendy by her hand off the couch and pulled her towards the door.

"WAIT, WE SHOULD SEE IF ANYONE IS IN THE ROOM?"

"YEAH. I'LL LOOK." Dipper cracked the door open just slightly, peering through. Seconds after, he turned back to Wendy. "IT'S CLEAR."

They slowly walked through the door. Blue light was streaming from the vending machine, through all the windows and cracks in the walls. The sound was even louder, but just as Dipper and Wendy took a few steps, it was gone. The gift shop was dark, except for the light from the lamps outdoors.

"What the heck was that?" Wendy whispered, now that it was quiet enough for the two to hear each other breathing.

"I dunno. Did you see where the light was coming from?" Dipper asked.

"Yeah," Wendy replied, "from the vending machine."

Dipper mumbled, "What the heck..." then blinked a couple times and said, "Get the security camera footage."

Once the two were standing in front of the TV, Wendy began to fast-forward from the beginning of the day. "What time is it?"

Dipper checked his watch. "About 11:15 P.M."

Wendy kept going until she got to 11:00 P.M, where she saw a figure appear in the gift shop, holding a lamp. "There!" she said, pausing it.

"I can't tell who it is," Dipper said.

"Me either. I think it's Stan though," Wendy said.

"Keep going."

Wendy played the footage back slowly. Stan approached the vending machine, typed in a code on the number pad, and the vending machine opened like a door. He went inside, down a hall, and shut the door behind them. Five minutes later in the film, the light began coming out from behind the vending machine door. Nothing else happened until Dipper and Wendy ran inside in their pajamas and went to check the film.

"Are we gonna go in there?" Dipper asked.

"You up for it?" Wendy raised her eyebrows. "Go get a flashlight."

Dipper ran out of the room and returned with what she asked. "Okay, Wendy, go back to when the code was typed in," Dipper ordered. He had a flashlight in one hand and was ready to type with the other.

Wendy put the video on rewind, stopped right before the vending machine was being opened, and played it back in slow motion. "Okay, hit the buttons in the order I say... Top left, the second from the top left, the one on the top right, the third from the top left, and third from the top right."

Wendy heard Dipper punching in the numbers as he spoke, and then the door cracking open. She turned off the TV they watched the footage on and walked over to Dipper's side. "You ready?" she asked.

"As ready as I'll ever be," Dipper said. He clicked on the flashlight, and with that, they descended down the stairs together.


	9. Chapter 9

At the end of the stairs, Dipper and Wendy took an elevator down to another room. The elevator would have needed a code, probably, except the doors were wide open. _Someone's just been here_, Wendy thought.

Many rows of monitors lined the room, leading down the hall to a desk and a door to the right of it. She hadn't expected anything special to ever be of that vending machine, but it explained why it was never replaced.

"Whoa..." Dipper said. "All this time, this has been underneath the Shack, and we've never known."

"And there's more." Wendy pointed to the door ahead of them, and to a window where that blue light seemed to still be coming from.

"Wow."

Wendy walked up to one of the screens. It showed an image of Scuttlebutt Island. Since is was night, Wendy figured it was a live feed. "Dip, check this out," she called him over. "Secret cameras."

Dipper furrowed his eyebrows. "That's really, really creepy." He turned to the other monitors. "Okay, now I also really do think it's Stan we're down here with. Look at what the cameras are on. The Gravity Falls Prison, Gideon's house, the Tent O' Telepathy, Pacifica's mansion... Soos's abuelita's house, the entrance to the author's bunker, the Gravity Falls Museum of History... Hey, the Mystery Shack is here too. Why do you think Stan needs to watch over the Shack while he's in it?" Dipper raised his eyebrows while questioning Wendy.

"Probably," Wendy told him, while looking at another video feed, "just in case the government agents come back. Look." She pointed to the screen, which was of some sort of government HQ. There was a giant picture of the town of Gravity Falls on the screen in the government room, the Mystery Shack circled.

"Well that explains why Stan was so nervous when the government agents arrived. He didn't want them finding out about his secret." Dipper sighed.

"What's the sigh for?" Wendy asked. She continued looking around the room. Spider webs were in the corners of a few of the monitors. Some pressure gauges were nailed to pipes on the wall.

"I just can't believe he's been lying to us. He _told us_ that he wasn't hiding anything! It's annoying because I... It's hard to trust someone who keeps surprising you like this!"

"Dip... I mean, I've never known about any of this, and I've lived here my whole life. You still have the memory erasing machine?"

Dipper nodded. "Yeah... why?"

"Well, I mean... McGucket made that machine so that people didn't have to live with the burden of remembering creepy things, scary things, failures, and stuff like that. That was _thirty years ago_, dude. Stan may not have been working alongside McGucket then, but he's been working on this for a long time. He's had to hide it for just as long, and it probably hurts him a lot to have to keep secrets from us... But he just wants the best for everyone." Wendy put her hand on Dipper's arm. "I know he does."

Dipper swung one of his legs back and forth. "That makes sense... Do you think I should ask him about it?"

"Let him come to you," Wendy told him. "He'll come around. Besides, we're here. He's gonna find out at some point."

"True." Dipper glanced back at the monitor of the History Museum. "I wonder if Stan knows about the Blind Eye Society."

"Probably," Wendy shrugged. "I bet he almost got his memories erased countless times, if he's been involved for the supernatural for a long time. And hey, would that mean he knows about McGucket helping the author?"

"Yeah." Dipper walked down the isle of videos of the town, stopping fairly close to the end of the room. "Yeah, there's one here of the junkyard, pointed _right_ at McGucket's house."

"Gee, I—" Wendy began, but stopped. The sound of the door being opened interrupted her. "Dipper! Hide!" she hissed. "Go, go!"

The two hid on opposite sides of the room, near the middle. They were pressed up against the walls and the sides of some of the machinery.

Wendy looked at Dipper, putting her finger up to her lips.

"Finally... finally, we're getting there."

Dipper's eyes widened. "Stan," He mouthed.

Wendy nodded as Stan continued speaking. "Only half-way there, but the portal should be ready before the end of the summer. If only there was a way to get it working faster..." Stan stopped in front of the monitor directly next to Wendy. Wendy froze. "Good, good, still nobody watching. It's so close..." Then, Stan began walking back towards the stairs. He said "It's so close," a few more times, until Wendy heard the vending machine door open and slam closed.

Wendy hesitated to move for at least another minute after Stan left. When she did, she went and stood right next to Dipper. "So... are we gonna go down, now?"

"I think we are." Dipper and Wendy walked to the end of the room, side by side, where the portal awaited them.


	10. Chapter 10

They were almost through the door when Wendy noticed something.

"Hey..." she brought Dipper to a stop. "There's a picture of you and Mabel on Stan's desk." The desk had a little alcove near the back of the left side, which was filled with books. A tiny lamp hung over it. On the right was a series of switches and buttons. The picture sat on the top surface, in front of the window. Wendy recognized it. A picture of the twins, taken at the very beginning of their summer vacation.

Stan kept a picture of the twins down with his deepest secrets. If that didn't express love, Wendy didn't know what else would.

Wendy could see Dipper smiling ever so slightly out of the corner of her eye. "Let's just go in," he said.

Inside the room, the light from the portal was almost blinding, so Wendy clicked off her flashlight. Since it was underground, the portal was surrounded by rocks and pipes. At the back, the portal—a triangular mechanism with a circular hole in the middle, surrounded by four round platforms. A lever in the down position was directly in front of Dipper and Wendy.

On the triangular part of the platform, colored symbols flashed in a non-specific order. Wendy recognized them from the journal. Speaking of which, Dipper had taken Journal 3 out of his vest and held it up before him, in front of the portal. When Wendy stepped behind him, the picture in the journal matched up with the portal _perfectly_.

They did it. They found the portal.

"This is insane." Dipper moved the journal closer to eye level, turning the pages to one Wendy had seen many times. Dipper brought out the black light, which showed more symbols. "Everything leads back to the portal. All these symbols... and this—" Dipper pointed to a symbol that Wendy recognized vaguely, but couldn't put her finger on it at the moment. "This was on the side of Stan's desk."

"That's it," Wendy snapped. "That's the tattoo Stan has. It's that symbol."

Dipper bit his lip, and thought for a moment. "I guess I get why he didn't want me to see it. Hey, didn't Stan say he was "Only half-way there" when we were in the other room?"

"Yeah, why?" Wendy turned as Dipper walked over to the window, pressing his hands up against it, pointing with his right index finger.

"You see those numbers reflecting on one of the screens?"

"Uh-huh, and they say... fifty-two percent." Wendy turned to Dipper. "He meant the portal?"

"I guess so."

At that second, the room became pitch black. Upon looking back at the portal, it had gone off. Wendy couldn't see anything, so she tried to turn on her flashlight; even after hitting it against the wall, it wasn't working.

Wendy was nervous. Neither she nor Dipper had an idea of what was going to happen next. They were _so close_ to the end of this investigation, and things were going great—until now.

It was dark and cold underground. She was shivering, and tired, and wished that everything from then on forward would be okay. "You still there, Dip?" Her voice echoed off the rock walls.

"Yeah, I'm here, Wendy." From hearing his voice, Wendy managed to find Dipper and slipped her hand into his, intertwining their fingers. Usually she wouldn't do that. But holding Dipper's hand made her feel less scared and alone; from the way her held her hand back, she knew he felt the same way.

"What now?" Wendy asked. She tried to sound upbeat, but knew she sounded defeated.

"_Oh, I'll tell you what now._" A voice echoed loudly throughout the room. From in front of where the portal was, a blue light started glowing in mid-air, and out popped Bill Cipher. He opened his arms, and said, "I'm glad to see you two made it after so long. Too bad, for you guys, nothing good will come out of this."


	11. Chapter 11

"Oh-oh-oh... _What_ do we have here?" That's what Bill said when he snapped his fingers and turned the lights back on. He stared down at Dipper—whose face was red—from where he was floating. "Finally made a move, did you, Pine Tree?"

Both Wendy and Dipper froze, before quickly and awkwardly pulling their hands away from each other. Dipper's face was red as a tomato, and Wendy knew (even though she didn't want to admit it) that there was a pink tint in her cheeks as well.

"So you finally got the girl, huh Pine Tree?" Bill raised his eyebrow.

"Bill, shut it," Dipper said.

"Didn't know you stooped that low, Red."

Dipper looked super embarrassed. "Bill, I swear-"

Bill floated over to Wendy and put an arm on her shoulder. "You know, I actually thought the worst you could do was that emo anime kid, but I guess I was wrong." He mumbled. "This is a first."

"Okay!" Wendy tensed up, shoving Bill's arm off her. "You've went too far, you moronic flying tortilla chip!"

"Yeah, well I didn't go farther than you did with Nerd Boy over here," Bill pointed to Dipper behind him with one of his thumbs.

"Okay, that's it! Back up, triangle!" Dipper said. "Why don't you—"

"Bill, why do you keep chasing us and watching us? It's disturbing! You could just ask for things the easy way," Wendy suggested.

Bill said, "But then it's no fun!"

"Well, _you're_ no fun, so..." Wendy said back. Dipper shot Wendy a warning glare. She knew she shouldn't say things like that to a demon, but he deserved it.

"Listen me loud and clear right now. I can make this more miserable than it needs to be." Bill floated right down in front of Wendy's face.

"Wendy, don't," Dipper warned her.

"_Try me_," Wendy told Bill.

"Wendy, no!" Dipper yelled. Bill picked him up by the collar of his shirt and held him in mid-air.

"Hey!" Wendy tried to throw her flashlight at Bill, but it just went right through his body.

Dipper struggled in Bill's hand. "Let... let me go!"

"Bill, _let him go_!" Wendy yelled.

"Oh, so you're saying I should keep Journal 3 for myself?" Bill began to lower Dipper to the ground slowly.

"You can't keep me forever, Bill! Just let me down already!" Dipper tried to throw a punch at Bill, who just extended his arm so he was far away until Dipper's arm was back by his side. When Dipper threw the punch, the journal also fell out of his pocket and onto the ground.

Wendy dove for the journal, but was hit back by Bill. Her head smashed against a rock. She stood up, rubbing the back of her head where she took the impact.

Bill had a hold on _both_ the journal and Dipper. "How does it feel, Red? How does it feel to have this taken away from you?"

"Bill, put me bac—"

Dipper passed out suddenly. "I've had enough of this kid telling me what to do and what not to do. So Wendy, what do you choose?"

"You can't do this! Leave both Dipper and the journal alone!"

"Well, you see, I can't do that. I've gotta take one—I'll keep the journal, or if it's Dipper, I'll throw him into that portal right there. I mean, the obvious choice is to save your friend here," Bill motioned to Dipper. "But you know how much the journal means to him."

"That's... that isn't fair!" Wendy argued, her voice so loud it was becoming strained. She was frustrated.

"C'mon, Red. Think about it, though. How many times has Dipper taken you into situations that leave you stressed afterward? How many times has he invaded your personal life?" Bill's body became a playback screen, of all the moments where Dipper had made Wendy angry, sad, stressed, or unhappy. "Don't you ever feel just a little bit mad at him for all those things?"

Wendy swallowed hard and took a deep breath. She frowned. "He didn't... It's not..." She tried to defend Dipper, but she couldn't. She knew Bill was messing with her emotions. The bad thing was that it was working.

"You choose, Corduroy." Bill reached out a closed hand to Wendy. When she slowly held out hers, Bill dropped a lighter in it, then disappeared, along with Dipper. Journal 3 laid on the ground in front of her.

"No..." Wendy said. She clenched the lighter. Her head was throbbing. She was scratched up. Tears were streaming down her cheeks as she stared at the book in front of her.

The summer had been a roller coaster so far. Sure, there were many times when Wendy wanted nothing to do with him. Yet... she forgave him for all of those. She knew Dipper had good intentions in everything he'd done. She thought about all the fun times they'd had, and that talk back at the author's bunker...

Dipper did a lot for her. They were pretty much best friends. _They loved each other._

She didn't want to have to do what Bill wanted; she didn't want to have to give in, but she had no choice. Wendy was sobbing now. She knew Bill was watching, pleased by what she was going to do.

Bill, Wendy thought, I hope you know I'm not going this because of you.

Wendy said aloud, "I-I'm so-so sorry, Dipper." Shakily, Wendy raised the journal up in one hand and the lighter in the other. She clicked the lighter on and raised it to the journal, then dropped the flaming object on the ground.

Wendy couldn't stop the tears from falling from her eyes as she watched the journal incinerate.


	12. Chapter 12

The hardest thing Wendy had done during the summer was burn the journal. The second hardest thing was to tell Dipper it was her who did it.

As she stood in front of the pile of flaming ashes that was once Journal 3, Dipper appeared in front of her, asleep. She ran over to him and checked to make sure he was alright. She picked Dipper up and carried him upstairs to his bed. "It's gonna be okay..." she said to him while tucking him in. Mostly, she was saying it to herself.

Wendy took Mabel's bed, since she wouldn't mind. But she couldn't sleep at all. The majority of the night, Wendy tossed and turned. She couldn't stop thinking about what she was going to have to tell Dipper in the morning.

―――

Wendy eventually fell sleep, and woke up to the smell of breakfast wafting up from the kitchen. She propped herself up into a sitting position, and rubbed her eyes. She could see Dipper raiding the room for something. "Good morning," she said through a yawn.

Dipper saw that Wendy was awake, and came and sat down beside her. "Morning, Wendy. Do you know where the journal is?"

Wendy tried her best to hide her guilt. She shook her head. "No, I just woke up here... Same for you?"

"Yeah," Dipper said. "I guess we can talk more about it later, though, and search for the journal."

"Yeah, sure."

After breakfast, Dipper stopped Wendy in the hall. "Hey... you okay?" He held onto the side of her arm, making sure she didn't leave before he knew what was going on; he was being a good friend. That just made Wendy feel guiltier than before.

She had to tell him, whether she wanted to or not. She could tell him it was Bill, but she knew it was better to own up to it. "Dipper, can we talk?"

"On the roof...?"

"Uh, here is fine." Wendy sucked in her breath. "Look, Dipper. I remember everything that happened last night. After you passed out, I had to do something. Bill made me..."

Dipper arched his eyebrows. "Bill made you what?"

Wendy took multiple breaths in, hesitating. "You won't be mad?"

A concerned look formed on Dipper's face. "Will I have a reason to?" When Wendy didn't say anything, Dipper only seemed more worried. "Tell me."

The words spilled from Wendy's mouth. "Bill made me... burn the... journal..." She averted her eyes from her friend.

Dipper was speechless in surprise. "I..."

"Dip... I..." Wendy took a few breaths before forcefully speaking again. "He was going to throw you into the portal if I didn't! I didn't have another choice!"

"Wendy, there had to have been another way... _There had to!_" Dipper's eyes were watery. "It's all gone... _Everything_..." He slumped up against the wall and slid down to the floor. Dipper put his head in his hands to hide his tears. "No... no, no, no..."

"Dipper, I'm so so sorry..." Wendy leaned down and patted him on the shoulder.

"Go away," Dipper told her, moving away.

Wendy felt a hurt as Dipper stood and slammed the door behind him, saying, "And don't come back."

Standing at the doorway for a minute, Wendy registered the event that had just unfolded. "_Don't come back_," Dipper had said. With faster, shortened breaths, Wendy turned and trotted down the stairs. She didn't stop walking until she sound of her best friend's crying went mute.


	13. Chapter 13

Wendy went down to the gift shop, because she thought nobody would be there. She felt _awful. _Even though Dipper was only twelve, she felt as if she had ruined a huge part of his life. She didn't want Dipper to be angry at her, or for him to hold onto the fact that the journal was gone. After all, they could still go on adventures; it would just be difficult since that journal gave them a lot of clues. Whatever the case, Wendy couldn't help to feel like this was her fault. She really wanted to be alone, but Soos was sweeping. "Hey, dude, you okay?" he asked. "You look like someone got hit by a truck."

Wendy shrugged. "It's about as bad." She explained to Soos the short version of what happened. While talking, Mabel arrived back from her sleepover, so Wendy filled her in.

Mabel and Soos did a pretty good job of making Wendy feel better, actually. Mabel said she should just leave Dipper alone (which she really didn't want to do), saying that he'd get over it. Both of them were disappointed that the journal was destroyed, though.

Wendy left out the crucial detail of them finding the portal, and Stan being the one to operate it. She knew Stan would never want her to know, and since she did, the best thing she could do was keep it a secret.

Stan came into the room in the middle of the conversation, probably to tell everyone to get to work (which really would have been unethical for Wendy; she was in her pajamas still). Wendy didn't let him speak though. She paused mid-sentence and said, "Stan! I need to talk to you. _Right now!_" Before he could protest, she pushed him into the living room.

"Wendy, what do you want?"

"Stan, please, before you say anything, hear me out. _Please_." Wendy went ahead and confessed everything that happened to Stan, from the first dream she had up until just minutes ago, when she told Dipper about the journal.

Stan looked horrified at the end of the story. After yelling at her for at least ten minutes about how reckless that was and how much danger she had put Dipper and herself in, Stan sighed. "Just... How did you guys... Oh, God..." Stan rubbed his forehead, like he had a headache. "You've really done it this time, Corduroy."

"Well, I didn't want Bill to throw your great-nephew into the portal! _That_ would have been worse."

"You don't even know the half of it," Stan told her. "Hey, now that you know about this, you _cannot_ tell a soul."

"I haven't," Wendy said. "I wasn't planning to. Ever."

"Good," Stan said. "And as for Dipper..." He looked Wendy in the eyes, showing sincerity. "I have something that might fix things, but I have to go back down to the portal. Just go along with what I say. Okay, out." Stan pushed Wendy through the door and into the gift shop.

"Okay, employees. Wendy here has convinced me to throw another party at the Shack. She says it's good to have a "hip image" with the young people, whatever that means. And I can make lots of money, so it all works out! I need you all to go outside and make signs for the party. Now, or you're fired!"

Soos, Mabel, and Wendy all shuffled outside. As they did, Wendy turned back and gave Stan a smile to express her gratitude.


	14. Chapter 14

Within a few days, the Mystery Shack was ready to party. The people around town were excited for the event—everyone living in Gravity Falls seemed to be going. Somehow, Wendy's desperate need for help had turned into this.

Dipper hadn't talked to Wendy much while they were preparing. Stan had, though, and Wendy was grateful for that. She hadn't ever relied on Stan for anything personal, until just days before. (Truthfully, it was nice to have him as an adult figure in her life.)

Stan told Wendy that he had a "man to man" chat with Dipper, and that he'd be fine once he sorted things over in his head. Wendy hoped the night of the party would be when that happened. She had a chance to really have fun, and that called for having her friend back.

"Welcome people of Gravity Falls!" Of course, Soos was deejaying the party. "Who's ready to party hardy?" People on the dance floor cheered.

Thankfully, since Stan knew Wendy planned to talk to Dipper, he hired people to run the ticket stand. It was a nice change to have Stan doing something kind and helpful, but... Wendy looked at the window where people were lining up behind the booth, and began to fill up with sad feelings.

"Hey-y-y! Wendy!" Wendy turned to see her group of friends all dressed up and ready to party.

She put on her most optimistic face. "Hey guys! Is this party great or what?"

Her friends all said it was great. "Who thought of it?" Tambry asked.

"Well, me, of course. Who else could make such an awesome party happen?" Wendy's friends applauded her for the party, and sucked her into their friend group. For a while, Wendy was having fun hanging out with them. But the whole time, the thing she had to give to Dipper was nagging at her in the back of her mind.

After the end of one of Wendy's favorite songs, she said she had to use the bathroom and bolted. She spent a solid five minutes just trying to find her way through the crowd before making it into the living room. From there, she went into the gift shop and got just what she needed from under the desk.

Wendy looked up at the ladder to the roof. She knew Dipper was up there. She didn't want to disturb him, but proceeded up the ladder anyways.

_He could still be mad at me, _Wendy thought. _Then what? I would prefer _not _to throw myself into the Bottomless Pit anytime soon._

Outside, the air was brisk and chilly. Wendy was pretty warm from all the dancing she had done. She would soon get cold in what she was wearing; a sleeveless green dress that stopped just above her knees, and her regular muddy boots (although she cleaned them a little, even though they would just become dirty again within a week).

She stepped forward continually until she saw Dipper sitting alone, drinking a Pitt Cola. "Hey." Wendy walked down the until she was at his side, and sat.

"You having fun?" Dipper asked, not looking at her.

"I thought you weren't talking to me," Wendy commented.

"Well," Dipper told her, "I guess I just changed my mind."

Wendy said, "To answer your question: except for the fact that my best friend is sad and sitting alone on a roof, yes, I'm having fun."

She could see her friend's eyes twinkling and the beginning of a smile forming. "Well, I'm still really sad about the journal thing. I've been thinking of ways to try and fix it, but I can't find anything. I just..." Dipper sighed. "Stan talked to me, and... I know I don't need the journal. I just wrote some stuff in it that I don't even remember... I guess the journal meant a lot to me."

"That's understandable."

"Soda?" Dipper held a full can out for Wendy, and she took it. _He isn't mad. _Wendy became super relieved.

Aside from the sound of crickets and the two drinking their peach sodas, the night was silent.

Wendy didn't really know what to say to Dipper, so she started with something that would get his attention. "Stan knows that we know about the portal."

"Wait, _what?!_"

"Yeah, I, uh, told him. I had to, Dip. Look, I know you're probably still really mad at me, but I tried so hard to fix things. Once Bill knocked you out, he started messing with me, and tried to make me feel bad, and it worked. I wanted to explain this to you before. I mean... Dipper... I was literally in tears when I burned Journal 3. I get if you don't forgive me for that, because it meant a lot to you. But I have something that could help..."

Wendy took what she had out of her jacket, and Dipper gasped when it was placed in his hands. "Is this what I think...?"

"Well, _kind of_," Wendy said, smiling a bit. "I asked Stan if he had anything to help me out. I guess he made a copy of the journal when he took it from you that one time." The first part of that was untrue—Stan had voluntarily given Wendy the copy of Journal 3, but told Wendy to never mention that either.

"It has everything you wrote from the first half of the summer, and I guess it still works with the black light, too. And Stan said you can keep this one; he trusts you'll use it for the right things."

Dipper looked so happy at that moment, Wendy thought he might explode. He ran his thumb over the hand on the cover before turning to Wendy. He set the journal down in his lap and hugged her tightly. "_Thank you thank you thank you thank you!_"

Wendy put her arms around her friend. "Hey, anything for you."

"I'm sorry I was being really distant the past few days." Finally, Dipper looked Wendy in the eyes. "I shouldn't have even been mad at you, considering you saved my life. I forgive you for everything."

"That is so relieving to hear."

Dipper laughed. He opened the journal and began searching the pages. Wendy had looked through it a few times before she had given it to Dipper, and it was exactly like the original. "This is awesome... " He closed the journal and looked at Wendy. "Hey, by the way... You look really nice right now."

Wendy shoved him playfully with a small smile curling up from the edges of her lips. "Shut up."

"Man," Dipper sighed. "Does Bill know about this journal?"

Wendy shook her head. "Stan says he doesn't. Maybe, eventually he will, when the portal is finished and it doesn't matter anymore." She smiled. "Come on, don't think about the bad stuff right now, dude. There's a party going on downstairs. Parties are a fun thing."

"Then we should go down there and have fun," Dipper suggested. He stood up, then paused in his tracks. "Wendy?"

"Mhmm?"

"I've been meaning to... to uh, ask you if you..." Wendy looked at Dipper expectantly, smiling even wider than before. "Wendy, come dance with me," Dipper said, giving up, small laughs escaping from his mouth. He held the journal in one hand and the other was stretched out towards Wendy.

About a week ago, Wendy had been scared of the summer ending. She was stressed and wasn't sure of what was going on. Now she was sure things were beginning to really start.

Wendy took Dipper's hand in hers. She stood. "You know what?" she said. "I think I just might like that."


End file.
